Bail. Hostels

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the north Yorkshire bail hostel will be used for(a) people who would otherwise be remanded on bail in their own home, (b) people who would otherwise be remanded in custody, (c) ex-offenders not awaiting trial and (d) only for people from north Yorkshire.

Bail hostels are solely for bailees who are deemed suitable by the court to reside in a hostel and who might otherwise have to be remanded in custody. They are unlikely to be used for people who could be bailed to their home address. Most of the residents will be local people, but hostels may accept referrals from other areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision he has made for the payment of compensation to people living in the vicinity of Alexander hotel, York who have suffered financial loss as a result of plans to use the hotel as a bail hostel.

The North Yorkshire probation service considered 16 possible sites for a bail hostel. A feasibility study indicated that the Alexander hotel was the best option in terms of operational needs and value for money.

North Yorkshire is one of eight probation areas in England and Wales which does not have an approved bail or probation-bail hostel. Outline approval for a hostel was given in 1991 on the basis that there was a sufficient number of defendants dealt with by the courts in and around York to justify a hostel there, bearing in mind that, when the courts wished to grant bail with a condition of residence in an approved hostel, north Yorkshire probation service had to rely on hostel places in other areas.